Racial Disparities in the Prescribing of Guideline-Recommended Medications for Metastatic Prostate Cancer: A...

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men, with a disproportionate burden on Black men. Racial disparities in care delivery for early-stage disease are well documented but less is known about racial gaps in advanced prostate cancer care, a stage where effective therapies can prolong life for years. We sought to evaluate potential treatment disparities among Black and White men with metastatic prostate cancer.

We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients with metastatic prostate cancer receiving treatment at a large public tertiary care health system between 2015 and 2020 using electronic health record data. We estimated the prevalence ratio (PR) of being prescribed each of the recommended treatment options for metastatic prostate cancer as per National Comprehensive Care Network guidelines, including androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) and other antiandrogens, chemotherapy, and bone protection, comparing Black men to White men.

We identified 1166 patients with metastatic prostate cancer treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT); 370 (32%) were Black. Prescribing of systemic treatments did not differ by race, notably including ARPI (PR: 0.98 95% CI: 0.98-1.1, p=0.8). About 30% of both Black and White patients interacted with our patient navigation team, a group of oncology nurses focused on ensuring patients receive recommended care.

In a large public tertiary care health system, we did not observe racial disparities in the prescribing of guideline-recommended therapies for metastatic prostate cancer. High rates of insurance, a robust patient navigation program, and a well-developed pharmacy assistance program may have helped mitigate racial disparities in care. Future studies should prospectively evaluate the delivery of prostate cancer therapies across health systems and the influence of navigation and pharmacy assistance programs.